Cocktails Fiction and Gossip Magazine

Relationships Part TWO

By columnist: Julie Eberhart Painter

A Friend In Deed!

by Columnist:

Tanja Cilia

Book Trailer Taken: A Tale of Cymllon by Marion Webb-De Sisto

Book Trailer Dead Silent by Amy Beth Arkawy

contents Taken: A Tale of Cymllon by Marion Webb-De Sisto

Dead Silent by Amy Beth Arkawy

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A Frien

by Column

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AUTHOR: LEANNA HARROW What Are Nephilim?

By author Dina Rae Author: STEPHANIE O’HANLON

14 28

Author: Stephanie Wheatley

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Ma

Author of “Aw

Richar

Author of “Say Goo Chocolate’s

Author: Stacy-D Suspense Author:

Relationships Part TWO

By Julie Eberhart Painter

6

nd In Deed!

nist:

Tanja Cilia

20 Suzannah Safi

wakenings: Cozumel, Mexico”

rd Burns

odnight,” and “Sweet ’s First Taste”

Deanne: Romantic e with Spunk

16 18 25

Aaron Dennis

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INTRODUCTION

ark Casigh:

Director I’m a romance author, a promoter, a graphic designer, and the creator of Cocktails Fiction & Gossip e-Magazine.

I have many novels and short stories that are published and stons that are in process to be published with different publishers. As a promoter I created the new Magazine Cocktails Fiction & Gossip Magazine for everyone to participate in it, no limit to who will be in the magazine or what we will gossip about. It’s for all types of readers who like fiction and innocent gossip lol. I wanted to do something that I enjoy, have passion for, and I found that writing, promoting, and designing book trailers and covers are my real passion so I’m doing that and proud of what I’ve accomplished. Can’t have enough sleep, hick who needs it anyway LOL. Welcome and I hope you enjoy this issue.

FANTASIZe

you can do it!

F R

antasies are written so readers can enjoy a different world every time they open a book.

Readers like to experience the rush that comes from living in a fantasy they may never experience or maybe experienced in a way or another. Whether it is romance, thriller, paranormal, suspense, or horror, writers only bring fantasies mixed with reality to make it believable for readers and make their enjoyment level elevate to a reality within the pages of an entertaining story. Yes, entertainment brings joy to our lives and it is an escape from our routine days. FANTASIES bring happiness to our lives! eading or writing stories like erotic romance, mass murderers, and blood hungry villain doesn’t mean authors or readers have experienced the life or are obsessed by performing such acts, however, authors are storytellers and entertainers, and they love to deliver a rush not only to readers but to themselves as well. Writing is enjoyable to every author, and an engaging story is most definitely enjoyable to all readers. So, do not be afraid as a reader to fantasize and live experiences you may never live in real life, but you are definitely lucky enough to enjoy it within the doors of your fantasy world with an intriguing story a talented author wrote. Enjoy the ride and continue discovering new authors and stories from many talented authors in the market today.

F

antasize, you can do it!

Suzannah Safi 2013 -Issue14

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Relationships Part TWO

By

Julie Eberhart Painter

So who knows the answer to “What father figure in the animal kingdom is a stay-at-home dad?

Hint: He’s a southerner – way south – ahead of his time as a liberated male role model. For those of you who said penguin, flap and clap twice.

Family dynamics. Let’s start with fathers. The sands have shifted under the fathers’ feet. As a product of the fifties, a borderline Stepford Wife and mother, I feel sorry for men these days. In fact I feel sorry for women these days, too. Our upwardly mobile, high tech, grandparent bereft and churchless culture has us parenting without a net. No backup, no real rules.

Over the years, agencies, ambitious PhD. authors and lawyers, for their own avarice, used their skills to sweep us into another culture. But I’m not bitter.

So what do parents who just want to be more like the Emperor Penguin and less frenetic do? When two people join to make a family, they must agree ahead of time on how they are going to work it to set their own guidelines. In inspirational fiction, the morality sets the methods that work best so there is agreement on what they want to do and how they can accomplish it. Fiction writers and nonfiction writers authors I can recommend include John Martin, Kathi Macias and Marcia Ford.

We see a lot of methods for handling the stresses of life in written fiction, or media comedy. It’s 6

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only a microcosm of real life. From I Love Lucy to Modern Family, the relationships are memorable vignettes not visible values in action. Nor are they helpful as functional examples. If people are looking for perfection – always a mistake – they will never measure up to these synopsized characters.

As in the animal kingdom, when the children are young it’s all about them. If a woman is career goaled, she should delay raising a family and partner with a man (or woman) who feels the same way.

Every species has its survival techniques. Kangaroos can delay gustation for several years until a safer time. Penguins use dad. Ours is our ability to negotiate using our reasoning power and the love we have for one another.

But human life intervenes. As human nature would have it, the goals of any family member might change, and not in a parallel way. Life is random and requires us to be quick on our feet. It means adjustment and growth. Mother Nature has designated the gender roles and it’s up to the modern family to work it out within each “clan”.

Let’s look at some examples in books and life.

Many things can throw a family or extended fam-

ily off kilter. I’ll list some and then we’ll look at the shuffle and re-deal.

Money troubles, losses, health issues, old age, job demands, infidelity, and personality changes due to external environs like assaults from war or crime and the necessary adjustment and healing required.

We don’t usually end up on the psychiatrist’s couch.

We usually have to muddle through on our own hooks. And may I say here that psychiatric help is overrated if the person who needs help is unwilling or unable to “do the work.” All these invasions and interruptions in the course of a lifetime keep us on our toes.

Money troubles among the family or between the couple is a devastating problem. One’s safety, health, and self-esteem all take a beating. Nowadays a family can shatter and be separated for its own survival so as not to devolve from the Cleavers to some Oliver Twist image swallowed up by poverty.

Death of a Salesman deals with this form of disruption.

Losses from a death, to a divorce, or foreclosure: these wounds require grieving before a family can heal and restore its balance. The definition of a functional family is “everyone’s needs are being met.” If loss invades a family dynamic, a great deal of rebuilding is necessary. Many books and theater are based on that premise. Giant, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and in nonfiction, Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking. She wrote a follow-up book having recognized that losing her husband had overshadowed losing her daughter and thereby left her first book on grieving in the first year incomplete.

Health issues sap strength and warp decision making. When I was a hospice bereavement volunteer, I heard the social workers repeat several axioms that make sense. I will share them without embellishment: “When someone is the house is ill, it sucks all the air out.”

“Everything you are feeling is normal.”

“I’m not okay; you’re not okay, but that’s okay.”

“Let go and let God.” Comforting and supportive quotes.

Old age saps enthusiasm and takes a great deal of the family resources. Whether the financially responsible person is the old person or is responsible for the old person, this is a serious dynamic to deal with.

Job demands: When loyalties are split, trouble starts. Since the job is usually a source of pride as well as income, devotion to it can cause jealousy within the family.

Infidelity: Hard on a marriage and hard on a friendship. Anna Karenina Personality changes: Long relationships can undergo many changes. They will affect how people feel, react and treat others. There is a “feel good, do good” syndrome that contributes to how you treat others. It makes a circle. Hopefully it starts on a positive note. Someone does something nice for you and the next person you meet you are inclined to do something nice or say something to encourage them. When it doesn’t begin on a positive note, the reverse is true.

When someone in the family is struggling, it’s best to ask why there is a change and if there is anything you can do, but add to that a few suggestions that require nothing of the person, but are an aid to them.

It could be a loss, a hurt or misunderstanding, an illness, or chronic condition the questioner is unaware of.

Our modern society is complicated and multifaceted. One answer doesn’t fit all. If sexual identity is added to the mix it’s even more complex. Tune in in October for more about gays in the family and in literature.

Visit Julie’s Web site at www.books-jepainter.com

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Taken: A Tale of Cymllon by Marion Webb-De Sisto

CLICK ON TEXT TOWATCH VIDEO

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xl1Brc3Uh3Q

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Most of the events that happen in my Fantasy story - Taken - are set on Cymllon. It’s a world where crea-

tures and beings we consider to be mythical really do exist. Dragons, lycans, centaurs, gryphons, demons, angels and the Faery Folk live there. Demgels {half demon, half angel} and even some humans spend their days on this magical world. It’s a place where romance might bloom, but danger is ever-present. If you should find your way to Cymllon, be ready for adventure, surprises and magic. You might even meet the one you’re destined to love.

I first introduced the reader to this world in the final book of my Angelic Chronicles trilogy. It was somewhere I didn’t expect to give too much attention to, but it quickly drew me in. Since discovering Cymllon, I’ve written two further stories that take place there, and I’m busily writing a third.

I’ve tried to make certain things similar to what are found on Earth, but also others that are not the same. Some familiar objects have different names, e.g. a phone is a voicer, a taxi is a transportercab and a fridge is a cold cupboard.

Money isn’t used there. City dwellers have little, metal tablets into which virtual cash amounts are either deposited or withdrawn by way of special machines.

not evil, but I had fun allowing his demon to take control now and then. One reviewer apparently appreciated this, saying, “Dreydon was a study of contrasts existing in harmony.” Esther is the heroine. Being abandoned on the day of her birth, she has grown up with issues of selfworth. Kidnapped and taken to Cymllon by one demgel, she’s soon rescued by another, Dreydon.

I hope my tale of how two individuals from different worlds become attracted to one another, also what happens between them, will let you escape for a few hours from your everyday life.

Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Taken-TalesCymllon-Series-ebook/dp/B009HUVXIW/ ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&;ie=UTF8&qid=1348 922074&sr=1-1&keywords=Taken%3A+Tales+ of+Cymllon+Series MuseItUp: http://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2/index.php?page=shop.product_ details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_ id=479&category_id=69&option=com_virtuema rt&Itemid=1&vmcchk=1&Itemid=1 Author’s website:

Those who live in the rural areas trade with each http://www.marionwebb-desisto.com/ other. Time passes more quickly on Cymllon compared to the passage of time on Earth, yet its inhabitants live much longer than we do. Just like here, some individuals are good while others are evil. Demgels, in particular, fascinate me.

They can be ruled by their demonic side or are guided by the angel within.

The hero of Taken is Dreydon, a demgel. He’s 2013 -Issue14

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Dead Silent by Amy Beth Arkawy

CICK ON TEXT TO WATCH http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LX4LyNVVcs0

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AUTHOR: LEANNA HARROW

My name is Leanna Harrow and I write erotic novels. I have several books I’d like you to get to know. My story is pretty amazing as I have no formal education and writing is something I’ve wanted to do since I was a child. I also wanted to be a ballerina, private detective and a race car driver but life happened. I raised four children and now get to enjoy grand children. When my eldest child decided to move away, I decided it was time to write.

I wrote my first book in April of 2012 and a month later, my second. I sent them to someone to edit and publish for me and then got busy promoting them while I worked on my third. After the third 12

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book was finished, I received an email from a contact on LinkedIn of all places and was asked if she could read one of my manuscripts. I was honored and had no idea she was the submissions editor for Eternal Press until I got to the end of the email.

Needless to say, I was floored.

I sent it to her thinking that I’d be getting another email shortly thanking me but no thanking me. I was again floored two days later when I received a letter of acceptance from her. I then asked if she’d like to read my other manuscripts and she gladly accepted. I got three more acceptance letters. The rest, as they say, is history.

My first book, Killing the Desire, is an erotic thriller about a woman, Rebecca Harlow, who is murdered by a serial killer she meets online.

The woman’s daughter, Rose, decides that the investigation isn’t progressing the way she wants and starts her own investigation. Little does she know, she is going to start a forbidden affair with the gorgeous Detective in charge of her mother’s case. She soon suspects that he may be her mother’s killer! This book has many twists to it as it comes from my deep seated fascination with serial killers and twins. These twins are unlike any twins I’d ever heard of and the information on them took me a lot of research…very interesting!

My second book, A Beautiful Liar-Book One of the Maggie West Series, is about a woman, Maggie West, who is faced with middle age and the realization that she’s at a crossroad in life.

She has an online encounter with a “catfish”. He promised once he came clean, that he’d never lie to her again. They begin a long distance love affair. It turns out, what she didn’t know would change her life forever.

In this book, I used my life’s story as the back story. I have had to overcome a lot of adversity and it makes for an interesting read. The sex on cam, trip to a far away land to meet a true love and ultimate betrayal make it an even more interesting read!

The remaining two books of the series “Maggie’s Men” where Maggie has too many men and too little time and “Maggie’s Misery” where Maggie gets caught up in an International incident but finds out what true love and great sex is, will be released In August and November of this year!

During the course of the eleven months it took me to pen these books, I also wrote over twenty erotic short stories. I put them all together in a book titled “A Collection Short Stories by

Leanna Harrow From the Fun to the Fearsome” and self published it. I have been like a woman possessed for the last year and don’t see myself slowing down anytime soon as I’m having way too much fun!

You can find me all over the web! http://www.leannaharrow.com http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&fieldkeywords=leanna+harrow http://eternalpress.biz/people.php?author=529 https://twitter.com/LeannaHarrow http://authorteasereadings.wordpress.com/ http://www/facebook.com/leannaharrow.com http://pinterest.com/leannaharrow/ http://leannaerotica.tumblr.com/

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What Are By author Halo of the Nephilim, Rae’s sequel to Halo of the Damned, explores the possibility of a hybrid species of part angel and part human walking the earth.

Her horror/fantasy novel is not as incredible as it sounds. The Bible and other ancient writings call this being nephilim (both singular and plural). Genesis hints at the idea of fallen angels mating with humans, but Enoch, Jasher, and Jubilees elaborate in great detail.

Centuries later, the existence of nephilim is still debated today by religious scholars. Some believe a specific kind of angel called Grigori or Watcher was ordered by God to watch over mankind. Lust gets in the way.

Many Christians, Jews, and Muslims are already familiar with the fall of Satan. God’s favorite angel wages war against God during Creation and loses.

Satan is so persuasive that one-third of all the angels in Heaven take his side. He and his renegade are exiled from Heaven for eternity. Their banishment leads them to Hell.

Satan’s fall is not the only fall involving angels.

Most are unfamiliar with the Apocryphal book of Enoch, one of the most holy characters in Biblical times. Enoch is chosen by the Watchers to intercede for them to God, like their defense lawyer, after they anger Him. It is unclear if all or some of the Watchers defied God’s orders, but an infamous meeting on top of Mount Herman in Israel takes place. The Watchers form a pact to wed and bed human women. With their supernatural abilities and charms, seduction is easy.

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The result of this forbidden love is a new race called nephilim. Some of these beings are described as giants with six fingers. Centuries later, races associated with nephilim are Anakim, Eminem (not the rapper), Refain, and even Annunaki (usually thought to be hybrids of humans and aliens from Nibiru). These races are considered ancient superheroes. God holds them responsible for teaching humans and their children advanced technology such as weapons, architecture, tools, agriculture, and cosmetics. They, along with Satan and the one third of angels who fell with him, are denied God’s mercy and forgiveness.

Goliath who was slain by David is probably the most famous of the Old Testament’s nephilim. He comes from the town of Gath, one of the lands of giants. By the way, Jesus was crucified in Golgotha which translates into place of the skull. Some believe Goliath’s skull was buried in Golgotha.

Looking for a new kind of horror entwined with religion? Read more about nephilim in Dina Rae’s exciting series of Halos.

Halo of the Damned and Halo of the Nephilim (May 1st) are available on most major book distributing sites. Visit Rae’s website, dinarae.co, and enter a free, spam-free, easy raffle loaded with unique themed gifts.

GOODREADS: Take Halo of the Nephilim or Halo of the Damned Quizzes to see what you know about angels: http://www.goodreads.com/quizzes/25776halo-of-the-nephilim?retake=1 http://dinarae.co

Nephilim? r Dina Rae www.dinaraeswritestuff.blogspot.com Halo of the Nephilim (not published until May 1) Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/ book/show/17415708-halo-of-the-nephilim Halo of the Damned-On all major book distribution sites-Amazon below.

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Halo-of-theDamned-ebook/dp/B0075XQYDM/ref=sr_1_1_ bnp_1_kin?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=13648539 93&sr=1-1&keywords=halo+of+the+damned

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Author: Mark Casigh Mark Casigh: Author of “Awakenings: Cozumel, Mexico” I would like to give you a brief bit of background as well as an introduction to my book “Awakenings: Cozumel, Mexico.”

By way of background, this is a story, that a family member asked me to write a few years ago. She is a beautiful Mexican woman who has a very understated sexual appeal, and I suspect, appetite too.

Now she had some very stern specifications on her wants, needs and desires. Yes, all of the double ant André applies, there. She wanted each chapter to be no more than four pages (so I began to play with font size to make that specification), she wanted me write, one week, a girl/ girl scene, the next a three-way girl/girl/boy, a fireplace scene, a shower scene, a swimming pool, scene, a hot tub scene and the list goes on from there.

So, with such specifications, I really wasn’t able to get too far into character development and plots as I would’ve normally. And in hind sight, I should’ve done exactly that, before submitting it for publication. I’m sure it would’ve made for a much better story. My intent now, is to continue with that story line and make this a short series of books, perhaps a trilogy, going into much more character development than in the first.

I read a review of this book that said, “…its really all about sex…” And that is really not the case. This is about a middle aged woman who suffers a life of sexual mediocrity and a divorce, but is suddenly ‘awakened’ after a visit to a resort in Cozumel, Mexico. She now finds her 16

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new self, not only awakened, but sexually liberated as well.

However, I don’t want everybody thinking this is just porn! I think that I have developed a talent to paint a picture with my writing; to describe and make a scene so vivid for the reader, that he/she will not only feel as though they are watching my characters, but are in the room with them, or perhaps even seeing the events through their eyes. While I fear that I’ve already given away too much, I want to stress to the readers of this article that they will be pleasantly surprised when they read this book and that it’s not at all like some might expect.

Another major difference in this story is that I wrote this book from the main character’s, a female’s perspective. Being a devote heterosexual male, this was not the easiest thing for me to do!

But it was certainly an interesting challenge.

By way of a tease, I’m currently working on a story that may raise some other interested readers. I’m working on a story now, hopefully for use in an anthology of Librarian’s Erotica.

I think I can speak for most men, that the vast majority of us have always had a thing for that curvy, well sculpted librarian, with her very understated figure and her deliberately downplayed beauty, her prim & proper, mild mannered exterior disposition. But when they are after hours, the buttons at her blouse come open to expose bare skin, the hair in the bun is shaken out, and now that she is no longer in the public eye, she becomes a sexual animal. And naturally, every man wants to think that he could be the one to loosen that exterior, unleash that animal desire and wanton lust so contained in that prim & proper exterior, and the flesh that

lies beneath!

Yes, I’m aware that this is strictly a male version of a fantasy, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

Stay tuned for further updates and developments at my website: http://www.MostEroticBooks. com, and most of all, thank you for your time!

Very Respectfully, Mark Casigh

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Richard Burns

Author of “Say Goodnight,” and “Sweet Chocolate’s First Taste” I want to thank Suzannah for the opportunity to come here and talk about my books today. This is a fantastic opportunity and I don’t want it to go unacknowledged. She is a wonderful and gracious host!

My first published work is “Sweet Chocolate’s First Taste,” which I sold to Simon & Schuster Publishing for use in their anthology series, “Chocolate Flava 3.” This is an anthology that is specifically written and geared for and featuring Black women of strong character.

I wrote this one when I received to ‘Calls for Submissions,’ from different publishers. One was seeking erotic stories regarding the writer’s first sexual experience. The second was from Simon & Schuster wanting stories that featured a strong black woman.

I thought, ‘Hey! For me, this is the same story.

I got this! I’ll write the story and submit it to both and see what happens.’

Simon & Schuster, by way of the editor of “Chocolate Flava”, Zane, was wonderful and worked with me regarding E-book & printed rights. Now, this is certainly not just a ‘wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am,’ story! This story is far more romantic than you probably think. For a short story, this story has character development, romance, sensuality, some of the hottest sex I’ve ever written and even an air or quality of mystery to it.

This story you can find on my Canadian Publisher’s page, Muse It Up Publishing of 18

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Montreal, Quebec. They are fantastic!

My second publication, “Say Goodnight,” is a fictionalized account of my second tour of duty in Afghanistan, as a Special Forces Military Intelligence Operator with the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Afghanistan (CJSOTF-A), in 2009.

As I’m sure everybody can understand, it has to be fictionalized just because of the very nature of the business.

Yes, these books could not possibly be more different. With that said however, this is a story that is based on actual events and people. This started out as a weekly journal that I sent to family and friends while I was overseas in 2009 and I made every week a cliff hanging, nerve wracking suspense.

I wanted to keep everybody on the edge of their seats until the next installment came out. I was told that I did a decent job with that too. However, with the next chapter only a page away, the reader doesn’t quite get that same effect in book form.

When I got back to the states, everybody who read this “journal,” raved about it! Almost unanimously told me that I had to send it to a publisher. So I did, and it got picked up. Hollywood likes to make military men out to be in-human, cold, calculating machines in human form. Automatons made so by way of training and completely impersonal. This is complete BUNK!!! War, and yes, killing, is an extremely personal business! I can’t possibly under-state that.

No, this book isn’t just about killing. This book runs the full gambit of emotions and stress. I try to explain the incredible tension, the immense pressure of these types of operations, I also bring in the some of the more light-hearted, humorous moments during a combat deployment. So the reader is going to see the full range of MY emotional turmoil during this period too.

I hope that I haven’t turned off any potential readers with the wrong impression. This is not just a book about being on an emotional roller-coaster either. This book was almost written for family & friends, laymen, who don’t know the particulars of ‘the business.’

So this will almost read like, ‘Spying for Dummies,’ but will not be insulting to any-

body’s intelligence or demeaning. I highly encourage anybody with an interest in current military history or who enjoy the classic espionage thrillers to give this book a thorough examination.

Both of these books can be found on my website: http://www.RichardBurnsBooks. com, and thank you once again for having me here in your wonderful magazine! I am indeed grateful!

With Warmest Regards, Richard Burns

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A Friend In Deed!

by Columnist:

Tanja Cilia – pregnancy scares, relationship problems, personal information about in-laws and mutual friends… because you thought they would never betray you.

You have helped them in myriad ways – lent them money without expecting it (or getting it) back; baby-sat their children at the drop of a hat when other arrangements fell through; cleaned their house before their husbands came back from abroad and they had done nothing but read and watch television… and you’ve lent them your new clothes before you even wore them yourself.

Picture the scene: you are an actress

in a film, and a co-star moves toward you, arms outstretched and smiling.

She moves closer and closer still, and you assume she is going to hug you and air-kiss you.

Only, she doesn’t. A flick of the wrist, and, with the six-inch blade she has been hiding in her sleeve, she knifes you in the back.

“Cut!” calls the Director.

Alas, when the same thing happens in real life – virtually or metaphorically, there is no one to stop the snide remarks and crude observations meant to hurt… and make people dislike or distrust you.

What makes it all the more bitter is that sometimes, the people who behave badly are those whom you have entrusted with your secrets 20

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You now find that your unconditional love and self-sacrificing are not only unrequited… they are paid back in bad attitudes and back-biting.

Some of these hurts will never heal, for the simple reason that you cannot bring yourself to think about them so you can erase them from your memory. For what can you do when your best friend simpers, within your husband’s hearing, about how much she admires you for leaving the clothes on the line for a week, and not caring if it’s rain or shine?

How do you react when a person you considered a bosom buddy tells your new sister-in-law, with a sly wink and a nudge, that you used to be the life and soul of any party, when you meet at the department store? Denying it will only give her more credence.

How can you forgive someone who has used your summer home as a place for trysts, when you lent it to her, rent-free, because she said her husband had kicked her out of the house with nothing but the clothes on her back? Oh – and let’s not forget that you gave her some of your clothes and made sure she never lacked for food…

Your friend expects you to drop everything to listen to her woes; but she’s always on the way out when you call her for advice or help. She wants you to go jogging with her at 4.00 a.m., – but the minute she finds a new partner, she tells you that he doesn’t want her to go out that early, because he is “afraid for her”.

You have turned a blind eye to her bad behaviour; but this time she’s gone too far.

What is it that makes people so amoral?

There are people who make it obvious from the start that you are just a stop-gap measure with them… they ignore you when there is even one other person with you; they make fun of you and belittle your ideas; but you stick to them because you have no other friends… and don’t they know it.

On the other hand, it could be that they are jealous of you, and would have befriended you only to try and steal your friends, or your lifestyle, or to find your weaknesses and destroy you.

It pays to have different friends in different areas of your life – preferably friends who are not acquainted with one another.

We are supposed to turn the other cheek. “Forgive and forget” is what all good people do, is it not? However, sometimes we are forced to ask – can we forgive but not forget? Can we forget but not forgive? But, more importantly – can we afford to give these people permission to ruin our lives?

People who are this toxic do not deserve our time and energy. With consummate acting skills, they manipulate our emptions, often lying through their back teeth to make us pity them or want to please them “just because they are our friends and that is what friends do”.

It will only dawn on us later, much later, that they have never been there for us, and that the

give and take system consisted of us giving, and their taking, all the time.

Sometimes we cannot avoid these people, because they are family, friends, or workmates.

However, if you allow them to know that their actions have hurt you and upset you, you are giving them carte blanche to point their fingers at you and say how puerile you are, with all those chips on your shoulder.

Whenever you have unresolved issues, these will impact other areas of your life.

That is why the dilemma obtains – if you forgive the back-stabbers, they think you are a soft touch; if you do not, you will be burdened with something that ought to have been discarded a long time before.

They do not realise that you are forgiving them not for their own benefit, but for yours… that the resentment that was eating you up has now been sublimated by a daily jog around the block, and that you have washed them out of your hair because they are inconsequential.

You can forgive a lot of things; but this does not make you a doormat. How about the colleague who stole your ideas and obtained a promotion when you were on sick leave? It would be easy to produce evidence of this duplicity of you e-, mailed the project to yourself on a date well before the date on his documents.

What about the woman who lied to your partner so that he would leave you… and go to her? It is easy to say that they deserve one another… he for believing a liar, and she for ending up with someone who is so easily led by the nose. But when you have given this man your mind, body, soul and heart, and perhaps also children, the solution is not that clear or easy.

It takes courage to move on… especially if you know you will be on the breadline.

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There are genuine blunders, made because a person does not know any better. And then there are the malicious pseudo-mistakes, made because professing ignorance is the best way to attempt to ruin a person.

It sounds weird to say that we should take note of instances when people trespass into our personal space, or when they breach our confidence, and then tell us that we “cannot take a joke” when we complain. Keep a notebook with dates, times, and places, and witnesses if available.

Literally.

For all we know, they are doing this with malice aforethought, just to see how far they can get with us.

Bad behaviour and rudeness must never ever be tolerated; but there are times when you have to recognise “grades” of bad behaviour. For instance, a person pushing you out of the way so that she can get into the lift before the door closes, such that you have to wait for the next trip or take the sitars, is not the same as knowing someone took the last teabag when he knows you don’t drink coffee or cocoa.

Of course, there are people who are bitter because of their familial circumstances; there are others who are nasty just because they can be, especially if they are in a position to pull rank.

This, however is not a reason for them to take out their unpleasantness on others – and even less is it an excuse for dastardly behaviours. Are you ready to excuse them, knowing it may backfire on you?

Be careful – a treacherous back-stabber may offer an apology in front of an audience, in order to have “witnesses” about your “bad behaviour” and “nastiness” when you did not accept it.

Tread carefully. If you feel up to facing the person, you can tell him that it was wrong for him to do what he id. If he pesters you to accept the apology, knowing that there are people 22

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watching and listening, you can throw this back at him point this out, and say that certain things are supposed to be private. If he insists that there is “nothing to hide”, i.e. he is hoping to get you into a corner – ask him what he intends to do about the problem, if there is one, and what his solutions would be, if any are needed.

If you can carry it off, tell him you will not allow such an unimportant thing to spoil your life.

Do not specify whether the thing is the action, or the person (himself); not even if he asks specifically.

There are times when the best option is to cut your losses and let go of whatever it was they took from you. Ironically, this is sometimes the best revenge, especially of the person who has wronged you has done so internally, to make you feel bad about yourself, your looks, your job, your partner, or your family.

Even if you decide to accept an apology, you cannot expect things to be the same, ever again, between you and the person who has cheated you; it is enough to remember that they have betrayed your rust but you have risen above them and chosen to move on and not allow them to more you in the past.

This episode will teach you to be more wary of whom you trust – of whom to allow into your confidence when you are vulnerable.

Be pragmatic. You cannot magic this person out of your life. And you cannot allow him to see your mouth droop and your eyes smart when you see him.

It stands to reason, of course, that on our part we should do our utmost never to antagonise others by words or deeds to do as we would be done by. However, some people will be envious of the good that befalls others, even if the promotion goes to the person who most deserves it, and whom everybody (else) loves. You cannot help being younger than the other person, or prettier, or more intelligent – but you can be emotion-

ally mature and wise enough not to shove these qualities down everybody’s throat.

These days, when trial by social sites is the norm rather than the exception, be careful what you post, and where. Even if you think your comments are private, there is the chance that someone may copy-and-paste what you write, to others, thus fuelling the green-eyed forces.

Columnist:

Tanja Cilia

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Author: Stacy-Deanne: Rom Why I Write Interracial Romantic Suspense: You might think that’s a strange combination of genres to write in and maybe it is. I am one of few if not the only author that writes primarily interracial suspense and mystery.

It comes naturally because I am extremely interested in suspense and interracial romance. So why not put the two together?

I’ve loved mystery and suspense since I saw my first Hitchcock film, To Dial M for Murder.

As if I wasn’t hooked enough, it wasn’t until I saw Psycho that I developed a serious obsession with suspense. I think Hitchcock was the most brilliant filmmaker and writer to ever live and I vowed to follow in his footsteps with my own brand of suspense.

The interracial part comes in because I’ve always been a supporter of interracial relationships. My books primarily feature black women and white men romances but I also write other interracial pairings as well.

How the Bree and Steven Interracial Suspense Series Was Born: The Bree and Steven series focuses on Albany Detectives Brianna “Bree” Morris and Detective Steven Kemp. The characters originate from my ’08 novel Melody. The books are standalones, like watching weekly episodes of a television crime series. Bree and Steven have a unique relationship. They used 24

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to be lovers, and Steven still has the hots for Bree. During the series, the detectives break off into different relationships with various love interests with readers wondering if they will ever find their way back to each other.

The chemistry between Bree and Steven sparks the series, and there are many twists and turns that readers must figure out to solve the mystery.

What about The Wild Life: The Wild Life is the third installment in the Bree and Steven series and will be released July 2013. This time Bree jumps headfirst into a dangerous situation to save her estranged father George has gotten himself mixed up with the Southern Cuban Mafia in Miami, Florida and they want him dead. Things get even more confusing for Bree when she meets Milan Varela, the head of the Southern Cuban Mafia and actually develops romantic feelings for him. Bree takes an emotional journey that will cause her to question the motives of those closest to her as well as her own.

mantic Suspense with Spunk

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The Wild Life:

Houston, Texas.

When Albany Detective Brianna “Bree” Morris learns that Cuban crime lord Milan Varela wants her estranged father dead, she heads off to Miami to find out why. With Homicide Detective Jayce Matthews and her ex-lover Detective Steven Kemp she devises a plot to get close to the Varela organization.

Website: http://www.stacy-deanne.net Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stacy. deanne.5 Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/stacydeanne

Brianna finds herself attracted to the older Milan and falls deep into his web of seduction while fighting to keep her mind on her mission. Milan is equally drawn to Brianna and vows to win her trust and her heart.

Is Milan really the villain when it comes to Brianna’s father? Or is he the victim?

Is Brianna’s father really in danger or is there more to the story than anyone could ever imagine?

Brianna risks her life to save her father’s but will she end up losing her own?

Bio: Stacy-Deanne (Dee-Anne) is a published novelist of crime fiction and interracial romantic suspense.

She started writing professionally in 1997 when she was nineteen years old. Stacy´s books include Everlasting (Simon and Schuster, 2007), Melody (Simon and Schuster, 2008), Giving up the Ghost (Peace in the Storm Publishing, 2011), and The Season of Sin (Peace in the Storm Publishing, 2012). Giving up the Ghost and The Season of Sin are 2011 and 2012 African-American Literary award nominees.

USA Today reviewed The Season of Sin and labeled it a Recommended Read in December 2012. Stacy was born, raised, and resides in

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Author:STEPHANIE O’HANLON Imagine yourself in the spring of 1770

in Paris, France. There are soirees, fêtes, balls, all attended by the highest in both fashion and society, while behind closed doors aristocrats plot the social demise of their fellow courtiers.

This is what I do on a daily basis.

My love for the 18th century came about when I was catching up on my list of films to watch.

On that list was Marie Antoinette, directed by Sophia Coppola and starring Kirsten Dunst in the title character. I fell hard for the fashions, the architecture, and scandal. I became obsessed with knowing everything there was about the real Marie-Antoinette and the century she has made so popular.

procrastinating.

You can purchase a copy of Affaire de Coeur in eBook or paperback format from Eternal Press, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and many other fine online retailers.

It was from that, and personal experiences that drove me to write Affaire de Coeur. It started with the main characters Madeleine and Colette, who are based on myself and a friend of mine.

Some of the things that both Madeleine and Colette say are actually based on real conversations that I have had with my friends. I didn’t plan it that way, it just seemed to fit in just right.

I knew it was going to be a romance because that’s what I do. I write romance novels. I just like to jump around each subgenre, getting my feet wet, seeing what I can do. So, since I knew that, I needed a love interest. Enter Lucien de Laurent, who was based a little on Count Axel von Fersen, and a lot of my imagination. I just thought of what was attractive in a man and wrote him as real as I possibly could, including faults that lead to the plot’s ending.

The story became increasingly personal as it moved along, and I began to become very attached to my character, Madeleine. I felt in hurting her, I was hurting myself. The last act of the book was really hard to write, and took the longest to complete because I kept putting it off, 28

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Eternal Press: http://www.eter php?isbn=97816157

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Affa lon/dp/1615728694/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF 1&keywords=affaire+

Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.co

Blog: http://www.stephanieohan

rnalpress.biz/book.

728688

aire-Coeur-Stephanie-OHanF8&qid=1369160078&sr=8+de+coeur

om/stephanieohanlonwriter

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Author: Stepha Good day and welcome to my little space.

Let me begin by introducing myself. My name is Stephanie Wheatley. I have a wonderful man who loves me for who I am and between the two of us we have 6 amazing children. If someone would have told me that I would one day become a published author I would have laughed at them, I actually did laugh at my husband as he was the one responsible for where I am today.

And where am I today.

Although this article is about my novel entitled ‘Love, Lust, Deception’ it is not my first book that has been published. ‘It is actually the second to my Pirate series. That being said you do not have to read ‘The Pirate and the Wench’ to understand my latest book.

SPOILER ALERT: You will not need to read the first to understand that story line for my next book which has yet to be given a title will include everything that is important from ‘The Pirate and the Wench.

Let me introduce you to my alluring story, ’Love, Lust, Deception’.

This story is about two men who are closer than best friends and one girl who is cherished by these two men and who loves them both.

There are mistakes that were made, and are still being made. Mistakes that no matter how hard one tries they simply cannot make them right or even take their actions back. Does one of them even want to take back what has been put in motion?

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I lost you didn’t I? I bet the first thing that went through your mind was what makes this book, story any different than any other romance novels that has been written and filled the shelves of the book stores.

In ‘Love, Lust, Deception’ I tried to steer clear of the mushy love story and focused on the mystery, the constant suspense, and what would an erotic novel be without the hot steamy sex.

Now, I am not talking about the sex scenes being nothing more than the sexual hints or leave your imagination to fill in what the words are missing.

My scenes are not a page here and a page there.

They are complete chapters filled with mind blowing, sweat dripping orgasms. Not only do I want you to enjoy the pages as they unfold but I want you to feel the desire, the lust, the heat created by these characters.

I want you to fall in love with Mitch. I want you to find yourself envying Felicity. I want your heart to break for Cole. Then once I have you hooked I wonder as you continue to turn the pages of this tantalizing novel will you be able to say that you still love each one of them as much as you did in the beginning? I would love to hear your answer.

You can leave me a message on my website: www.freewebs.com/stephaniewheatley Or My facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ groups/284765408269269

anie Wheatley

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Author: Aaron Dennis Welcome, Sci fi fans, to the unceas-

ing world of Lokians. From alien crafts raining red lasers down onto frozen battle fields, to a special operations team sitting at an alien chow hall, Lokians Book1: Beyond the End of the World has something for everyone. I got the idea from several dreams over the course of my life.

I normally dream about aliens, and invasions.

So, placing some key pieces together was rather simple. The bulk of the story came from one in particular wherein some Humans traveled to a frozen cave with a group of friendly aliens in order to free a second race of aliens to fight yet a third race.

I then replaced the aliens in the dreams with concatenations of other aliens. This is how the Lokians, the Thewls, and the travelers were born. Simple, and elegant, Beyond the End of the World provides never before created races everyone will grow to love, or hate.

This hard Sci fi adventure is packed with action, explained technology, and unique characters.

Now, the characters aren’t unique because there are none like them, but because they are believable, real. Each character, be it Human, Thewlian, or whatever other race, speaks with their own special tone, or presents a set of mannerisms, which makes their words known to the audience before the final words, he said. Each character also provides a thought pattern to help diversify the potential conversations, or interactions, thus giving the audience something to look forward 32

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to. Readers will wonder, “Gee, how will they get out of this one? Oh, I bet Swain will think of something.”

The protagonist, Riley O’Hara, is the Captain of Earth Navy’s spec ops team. Though trained in the art of combat, surveillance, and small unit tactics, neither he, nor any of the members of his team, have had to face combat. In the Lokians world, it’s been relatively peaceful, until the Lokians, an insect-like race of aliens who scour the galaxy in search of technology to splice into their own genetic makeup, rear their heads, claws, and tentacles.

With this threat, and battle hardened alien allies, O’Hara and crew face unbelievable hardships.

O’Hara’s first mission is simple recon. He must locate the source of magnetic interference, which turn out to be several, ancient alien beacons. After their discovery, The Bureau, a private organization dealing in extra terrestrial matters, sends two agents, Adams, and Franklin, to keep tabs on O’Hara’s crew. These guys are not only a sort of narrative device to keep the Humans safe, but also provide some oddball comic relief.

The spec ops team has a meet and greet on planet Eon with the benevolent Thewls, tall catlegged aliens with translucent skin who communicate monotonously, but show their emotions or intent with color cues, changes in complexion. Together they unite to find a third race of aliens, the travelers, who exist outside of time.

The goal in a joint force is to utilize the travel-

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ers’ knowledge in the battle against the Lokians, who target the Humans as a viable threat to their existence. Things don’t pan out as planned, but that’s the fun. Readers will never know what to expect.

Faced with fallen comrades, seemingly unstoppable enemies, and an ever deteriorating situation, O’Hara musters all of his skills, all of his mental abilities, and all of his and his crew’s passion for peace to strike back. His journey takes him to several planets across the galaxy, and even into subspace, where the spec ops teams fights the Lokian queen.

What sets this novel, and the series, apart from current Sci fi is the level of research involved in creating the universe. From studying biology, which is shown in the Thewls’ communications, as well as, the Lokians’ ability to grow living alien vessels, to astrophysics, space craft engineering, and laser technology, I spent countless hours pumping my brain full of real knowledge then extrapolated for entertainment purposes.

For instance, I studied tests on liquid Xenon regarding finding proof of dark matter then created a liquid Xenon organ within a living Lokian vessel. This craft, called a Transporter, utilizes dark matter in a biological way to advance propulsion. While a fully explained portfolio bores an audience, a few sentences in character conversation makes it believable, and that’s what readers want. Another portion of my studies created a set of plotted, or known, wormhole locations. I mean, how else can people travel across the galaxy in time to accomplish anything? Hint, hint, this is something most Sci fi writers neglect to achieve.

To help with the flow, and keep the stories from full on despair, I gave several characters some light hearted, and humorous dialogue. Other situations, such as the Thewls struggling to understand humor, or DeReaux’s ladies man panache, give the characters life, and I use them

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to drive the story forward. A series of missions resulting in flaming explosions just isn’t enough, and neither is a handful of guys running around looking for alien tail. It was a difficult journey combining the worlds, characters, technology, and the actual plot, which is preventing an alien invasion. The culmination, however, cannot be provided in one novel, thus the reason for a series.

So far, there are three Lokians novels, Beyond the End of the World, They Lurk Among Us, and the newest installment, For War and Glory.

I don’t intend to stop writing Lokians novels, as the characters continue to develop. To carry the stories forward, I also wrote a few Lokians short, free on smashwords.com, though I suggest the audience familiarizes themselves with the Lokians world by either reading the novels, published by Eternal Press, or dropping by the Lokians Facebook page.

While this isn’t necessary, it does help to provide an appropriate knowledge of why the characters in the shorts are the way they are. Getting beat down by giant crab-roaches, dodging lasers, and crafting special weapons, all while your friends get creamed can change a man, or Thewl.

To add compliment to recovery , that’s the opposite of insult to injury, and this wordplay stuff is rampant throughout the series, Sci fans can drop by my website, www.dennisauthor.com, and take a look at some Lokians merchandise, or watch the video trailers. I’d also like to add, that if any fans want to drop me a line, and discuss current Lokians affairs, or future affairs, I’m always available.

Thanks for having me – Aaron Dennis, creator of the Lokians Science Fiction series, like, the best series ever. No, but seriously folks, don’t miss out.

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